International Law

Norton Rose Fulbright raids Sidley for 17-lawyer practice group and opens new San Francisco office

Megafirm Norton Rose Fulbright announced Thursday that it has hired Sidley Austin’s entire public finance practice group. The group includes six partners, and seven of the lawyers will establish a new San Francisco office for Norton Rose Fulbright—the 3,800-attorney megafirm’s 12th in the U.S. and 53rd worldwide, according to the…

Jun 3, 2016 9:47 AM CDT

8 years after landmark international manhunt, ex-teacher gets time for Cambodia child-sex crimes

More than eight years after an international manhunt for a “swirl face” pedophile made headlines due to innovative use of technology and the internet, the criminal justice system is still addressing crimes committed by Christopher Paul Neil. Eventually identified, despite the digital swirling of his own face on child sex-abuse…

Jun 2, 2016 10:40 AM CDT

June 8, 1968: James Earl Ray is captured

Shortly before noon on June 8, 1968, a British policeman stood at the passport desk at London's Heathrow Airport. Before him was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man in horn-rimmed glasses and a beige topcoat. His passport, issued by the Canadian embassy in Lisbon, said his name was Ramon George Sneyd.

Jun 1, 2016 12:30 AM CDT

A new dawn for Cuba as it opens for business

The 90-mile corridor between Key West and the north coast of Cuba is far wider, deeper and considerably more dangerous when you factor in everything that's happened between the two countries during the last 57 years. Former ABA President Stephen Zack (with a flag from pre-revolutionary Cuba in his office)…

Jun 1, 2016 12:10 AM CDT

Clyde & Co. to acquire 18-lawyer Miami firm, seeks to be top US insurance coverage shop

A London-based international law firm plans to open its sixth U.S. office by acquiring an 18-attorney Miami, Florida, corporate litigation boutique. Clyde & Co. announced the deal with Thornton Davis Fein on Thursday, and expects it to be complete by July 1. “Our ambition in the United States is to…

May 26, 2016 9:35 AM CDT

Law firm loses bid to hold banks accountable for its $287K loss in cashier’s check fraud

A New York lawyer who was defrauded of $287,450 in a cashier’s check scam by a purported client has lost an initial effort to recover from the bank that deposited the check in his trust account, as well as the bank that purportedly issued the check. Apparently victimized in what…

May 23, 2016 5:05 PM CDT

New focus of litigation funding is law firms’ entire portfolios of cases

Got a good book of business, but worried about cash flow? It isn’t simply a traditional bank to which a law firm might look for help in such a situation these days. Once intended simply to provide up-front money needed to pursue individual contingency cases with a big potential payday,…

May 16, 2016 3:30 PM CDT

‘John Doe’ says he leaked law firm’s Panama Papers to show why income inequality is a big problem

An individual reportedly behind a massive leak of confidential documents from a Panama-based law firm says he was driven by the issue of “income inequality” to made the material public. As the documents show, “massive, pervasive corruption” is why many people find themselves on the wrong side of an ever-widening…

May 6, 2016 5:05 PM CDT

New Treasury Dept. rule requires banks to identify owners of shell companies that open accounts

The U.S. Treasury Department has issued a long-awaited rule for the financial industry that will require banks and other institutions to obtain ownership information for shell companies when they open accounts. Anyone who owns at least 25 percent of the company, or controls it, must be identified under the new…

May 6, 2016 4:50 PM CDT

Hungry man who stole cheese and hot dogs did not commit a crime, says Italy’s top court

If you’re homeless, broke and have no food, it may not be a crime to steal some, Italy’s highest appellate court recently ruled. The appeal involved a defendant who allegedly stole approximately $4.60 worth of cheese and hot dogs from a Genoa supermarket, the Italian news agency ANSA reports. A…

May 4, 2016 11:05 AM CDT

Struggling Slater & Gordon makes deal with lenders, boosting stock price, but won’t pay dividends

Financially struggling Slater & Gordon, the world’s first publicly traded law firm, has boosted its chances of survival by making a deal with lenders to extend some $640 million in debt, in U.S. dollars. Under the agreement, the Australia-based international personal injury law firm must pay lenders an addiitional fee…

May 2, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

China puts foreign groups under police supervision and requires them to find Chinese sponsors

China has passed a new law requiring foreign nongovernmental organizations—known as NGOs—to register with police and to find official Chinese sponsors. The law passed Thursday amid criticism by Western governments and foreign NGOs, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and Reuters report. It takes effect Jan.…

Apr 29, 2016 2:35 PM CDT

Elevate Services acquires Legal OnRamp

Elevate Services has announced that it is expanding its legal technology business by acquiring Legal OnRamp. Paul Lippe, the founder and CEO of OnRamp Systems Inc., will serve on the advisory board of Elevate. Lippe is also an ABAJournal.com columnist. The Silicon Valley engineering team of Legal OnRamp will join…

Apr 28, 2016 4:20 PM CDT

Does Dentons’ verein structure shield it from conflict claim? Malpractice suit says the answer is no

Are law firms that operate under a Swiss verein structure considered one law firm when determining conflicts of interest? The world’s largest law firm by head count, Dentons, avoided an answer to that question when a case settled before the U.S. International Trade Commission, the ABA BNA Lawyers’ Manual on…

Apr 27, 2016 5:45 AM CDT

In letter to lawmakers, ABA defends decision not to publish book by Chinese human rights lawyer

The American Bar Association says an employee was misguided when he or she offered to publish a book by Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao, and the employee erred again when citing concerns about “upsetting the Chinese government” as the reason for withdrawing the offer. The ABA was “disinclined” to…

Apr 26, 2016 12:10 PM CDT